Higher Education Accreditation in the United States

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Accreditation of higher education institutions in the United States has traditionally been a peer review process, coordinated and regulated by member institutions (colleges, universities, etc.) as well as accreditation commissions and committees. While accreditation of higher education has existed for most of the 20th century, it became a more integral part of the higher education industry in 1952 with the reauthorization of the GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944) which covered the cost of tuition and living expenses for veterans of the Korean War who desired to attend college, high school or pursue other vocational education options.

To meet demand for the influx of new students spawned by reauthorization of the GI Bill, many new colleges and universities were established; but veterans as well as the federal government quickly discovered that some of the new institutions offered sub par training and education programs. In an effort to ensure that veterans received a high quality education and that tax payer dollars were not wasted, the federal government restricted GI Bill eligibility to students enrolled at colleges, universities and higher education institutions included on a list of federally recognized and accredited institutions. This list was published annually by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. While the U.S. Government did not set new accreditation standards, they set the existing peer review process as the basis for determining institutional quality (as well as eligibility for GI Bill recipients).

While neither the U.S. Department of Education or Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) are directly involved in the accreditation process, both organizations recognize which higher education accreditation agencies are reputable, and provide guidelines, resources and information about each accreditor.

Since the establishment of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in 1965, the U.S. Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of reputable higher education accrediting agencies each year. In turn, these agencies publish a list of accredited higher education institutions as well as accredited programs. There are two types of higher education accrediting agencies: regional and national. Both regional and national accrediting agencies are accountable to the Department of Education, but they differ in their level of oversight. Regional agencies only accredit schools and colleges within a specific geographic area or region. As such they have greater oversight over their institutions. National agencies have less oversight over the institutions they monitor and are able to accredit institutions throughout the United States, and sometimes in other countries. Within the sphere of American higher education, regional accrediting agencies are considered to be more reputable than national accrediting agencies. As such, it is usually in students’ best interest to attend a regionally accredited school if they can.

The United States is divided into six geographic regions and for each their is a single regional accreditor. Each regional accreditor is responsible for accrediting the majority (if not all) of the public and private elementary, secondary and post-secondary education institutions located within the region it serves.

The following chart shows the 6 regional accrediting agencies for higher education institutions in the United States along with the states they serve.

Each of the regional agencies in the above chart has full accrediting authority for postsecondary education institutions and colleges for the states listed. However, if you were to compare the list above to that published by the U.S. Department of Education and Council for Higher Education Accreditation you’d notice a slight discrepancy. The list above shows six agencies, while the list published by the U.S. Department of Education and CHEA shows eight. This is simply a matter of classification. A few of the agencies listed by the U.S. Department of Education are subdivisions within the regional accrediting agencies presented above.

There are 52 national accrediting bodies recognized in the United States. Where regional accreditors are based on geographic area, national accreditors typically cover a specific program type or professional area of training. For example, The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) has authority to accredit only Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine schools and programs. There are 5 national accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that are general in nature and national in scope. These include:

National accreditors that cover a specific program or type of professional training are often referred to as Programmatic accreditors. There 47 programmatic accreditors in the United States recognized by the Department of Education. These include:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly American Dietetic Association Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE-ADA)

While not always the case, regionally accredited schools and colleges are typically academic, non-profit education institutions. In contrast, the majority of nationally accredited schools are for-profit and provide vocational oriented career and technical training programs.

One of the most salient differences between nationally and regionally accredited programs is a student’s ability to transfer from one higher education institution to another. Students who have attended or earned a degree from a nationally accredited school may find it difficult, if not impossible, to transfer their credits to a regionally accredited school. A study conducted by the U.S. Government of Accountability Office (GAO) in 2005 indicated that nearly 85% of all U.S. schools and colleges, when considering admission of a transfer student, take into consideration whether or not the previous school the student attended was regionally accredited. Many colleges have now established policies that the will only accept credits earned at other regionally accredited institutions. When asked why they would not accept credits from nationally accredited institutions, regionally accredited colleges responded that nationally accredited institutions have less stringent standards (especially when it comes to hiring qualified faculty).

If you plan on attending a nationally accredited school and then transferring to a regionally accredited college, you’ll want to make sure that the college you plan on attending will accept credits from a nationally accredited school.

Many people are under the impression that you can tell whether or not an education institution is accredited by their name and/or the programs they offer. While this may be true in some instances, it isn’t always. Generally, a school’s name and their degrees do not indicate the accreditation status or type of accreditation the school holds. Always, check a school’s website or with an admissions counselor to verify accreditation status before enrolling in a program.

Professional and Specialized Accreditors

Several professional and specialized accrediting agencies are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and Council for Higher Education. These agencies develop, share and apply a best practices approach to accreditation through affiliation with the Association of Professional and Specialized Accreditors. Some of the more popular professional accreditors include: